As diplomats prepared to testify publicly at House impeachment hearings, the president of the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) recalled another perilous era in US history.
That was Senator Joseph McCarthy’s reign of hysteria in the early 1950s about supposed communists in Hollywood and the federal government – especially the State Department.
“I think it’s fair to say in the past 70 years, since the McCarthy period, this is the most fraught time and the most difficult time for our members,” said Eric Rubin, the president of AFSA, the union representing foreign service officers.
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During McCarthyism, the Republican from Wisconsin wildly alleged that the State Department was infested with communists and chaired hearings to root them out.
Now, House Democrats are calling on diplomats to help uncover the truth concerning accusations that US President Donald Trump invited a foreign government into domestic affairs for his personal political benefit. This time, unlike in the McCarthy era, foreign service officers are not the accused.
Video showing William B Taylor Jr, George Kent and Marie Yovanovitch on Capitol Hill for their closed-door testimony in the Ukraine matter provided images of proud, dedicated federal employees caught up in a political drama they cannot escape.
Taylor and Kent testified publicly yesterday, and Yovanovitch will tomorrow, on Trump’s plan to have Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky embarrass Trump’s political rival, former vice-president Joe Biden, by investigating his son’s activities in Ukraine.
This has plunged the diplomats into a legal predicament between the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives and the Republican-controlled White House, and leaves the association in unmapped terrain.
“Our colleagues are finding themselves in an unprecedented situation where, in some cases at least, they are caught between a congressional subpoena, which is a legally binding action, and instructions from their employer, the executive branch, not to co-operate with the Congress,” Rubin said.
“And that’s not a situation that anyone wants to find themselves in.
“It’s not a situation that any of our colleagues has been in, in our memory,” he added.
They are witnesses, not culprits, but they need lawyers.
AFSA is raising money for attorneys and is requesting free assistance from law firms. The organisation is working with about a dozen firms and has raised “tens of thousands of dollars” for legal fees, Rubin said.
“We’ve never done a legal defence effort of this magnitude before,” said Rubin, a 34-year career diplomat who has been ambassador to Bulgaria and the White House National Security Council’s public affairs director, among his postings. Rubin’s “never” includes the McCarthy period.
“Defending our colleagues… is something that did not happen in the 1950s. At that time, AFSA did not step forward to defend its members,” Rubin said, vowing not to let that happen now.
“This is a particularly important time for us to stand up for our colleagues to ensure that they know that they have support.”
They need support – and protection – as they defy administration instructions to withhold co-operation with the impeachment inquiry and contradict a president who insists that his solicitation of Zelensky was “perfect”.
The support of which Rubin speaks has not been received from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
“I think it’s fair to say we would like to see a little more public support in terms of statements, that’s true,” Rubin said.
“But, you know, so far in this very difficult time, I think we have a good relationship with the State Department leadership on this.”
He would not offer any further comment on statements or actions by the president or other administration officials, even when they directly affect AFSA members.
“AFSA is a non-partisan association,” he said, “that supports its members but does not take public positions on political issues such as the impeachment battle.”
Others in the foreign service community do not see this “good relationship” and have been willing to rebut these attacks against their colleagues:
:: Pompeo abetted Yovanovitch’s ouster from her post as US ambassador in Kiev. Three times, Michael McKinley, a former Pompeo top aide and ambassador, requested, unsuccessfully, that the secretary issue a statement in defence of Yovanovitch.
McKinley resigned from the department because, he told Congress, “of two overriding concerns: the failure, in my view, of the State Department to offer support to foreign service employees caught up in the impeachment inquiry on Ukraine. And, second, by what appears to be the utilisation of our ambassadors overseas to advance a domestic political objective.” Three-dozen former foreign service officers complained in a letter that Pompeo “failed to protect civil servants from political retaliation”.
:: In a call with Zelensky, Trump called Yovanovitch “bad news” and said “she’s going to go through some things”.
:: Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, demonstrated contempt for the diplomats testifying before the impeachment inquiry as “a group of mostly career bureaucrats who are saying: ‘You know what? I don’t like President Trump’s politics so I’m going to participate in this witch hunt that they’re undertaking on the Hill'”.
A letter from more than 400 retirees of the US Agency for International Development said “we are angered at the treatment of dedicated, experienced, and wise public servants like Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch” and was critical of the administration’s treatment of foreign service officers.
Rubin refused to comment on these specific incidents.
He did ask “the State Department leadership to do everything it can to avoid dragging our members, our career colleagues into the political battles”.
© 2019, The Washington Post
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Home » Analysis & Comment » Joe Davidson: 'US State Department's biggest crisis'
Joe Davidson: 'US State Department's biggest crisis'
As diplomats prepared to testify publicly at House impeachment hearings, the president of the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) recalled another perilous era in US history.
That was Senator Joseph McCarthy’s reign of hysteria in the early 1950s about supposed communists in Hollywood and the federal government – especially the State Department.
“I think it’s fair to say in the past 70 years, since the McCarthy period, this is the most fraught time and the most difficult time for our members,” said Eric Rubin, the president of AFSA, the union representing foreign service officers.
Please log in or register with Independent.ie for free access to this article.
Log In
New to Independent.ie? Create an account
During McCarthyism, the Republican from Wisconsin wildly alleged that the State Department was infested with communists and chaired hearings to root them out.
Now, House Democrats are calling on diplomats to help uncover the truth concerning accusations that US President Donald Trump invited a foreign government into domestic affairs for his personal political benefit. This time, unlike in the McCarthy era, foreign service officers are not the accused.
Video showing William B Taylor Jr, George Kent and Marie Yovanovitch on Capitol Hill for their closed-door testimony in the Ukraine matter provided images of proud, dedicated federal employees caught up in a political drama they cannot escape.
Taylor and Kent testified publicly yesterday, and Yovanovitch will tomorrow, on Trump’s plan to have Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky embarrass Trump’s political rival, former vice-president Joe Biden, by investigating his son’s activities in Ukraine.
This has plunged the diplomats into a legal predicament between the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives and the Republican-controlled White House, and leaves the association in unmapped terrain.
“Our colleagues are finding themselves in an unprecedented situation where, in some cases at least, they are caught between a congressional subpoena, which is a legally binding action, and instructions from their employer, the executive branch, not to co-operate with the Congress,” Rubin said.
“And that’s not a situation that anyone wants to find themselves in.
“It’s not a situation that any of our colleagues has been in, in our memory,” he added.
They are witnesses, not culprits, but they need lawyers.
AFSA is raising money for attorneys and is requesting free assistance from law firms. The organisation is working with about a dozen firms and has raised “tens of thousands of dollars” for legal fees, Rubin said.
“We’ve never done a legal defence effort of this magnitude before,” said Rubin, a 34-year career diplomat who has been ambassador to Bulgaria and the White House National Security Council’s public affairs director, among his postings. Rubin’s “never” includes the McCarthy period.
“Defending our colleagues… is something that did not happen in the 1950s. At that time, AFSA did not step forward to defend its members,” Rubin said, vowing not to let that happen now.
“This is a particularly important time for us to stand up for our colleagues to ensure that they know that they have support.”
They need support – and protection – as they defy administration instructions to withhold co-operation with the impeachment inquiry and contradict a president who insists that his solicitation of Zelensky was “perfect”.
The support of which Rubin speaks has not been received from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
“I think it’s fair to say we would like to see a little more public support in terms of statements, that’s true,” Rubin said.
“But, you know, so far in this very difficult time, I think we have a good relationship with the State Department leadership on this.”
He would not offer any further comment on statements or actions by the president or other administration officials, even when they directly affect AFSA members.
“AFSA is a non-partisan association,” he said, “that supports its members but does not take public positions on political issues such as the impeachment battle.”
Others in the foreign service community do not see this “good relationship” and have been willing to rebut these attacks against their colleagues:
:: Pompeo abetted Yovanovitch’s ouster from her post as US ambassador in Kiev. Three times, Michael McKinley, a former Pompeo top aide and ambassador, requested, unsuccessfully, that the secretary issue a statement in defence of Yovanovitch.
McKinley resigned from the department because, he told Congress, “of two overriding concerns: the failure, in my view, of the State Department to offer support to foreign service employees caught up in the impeachment inquiry on Ukraine. And, second, by what appears to be the utilisation of our ambassadors overseas to advance a domestic political objective.” Three-dozen former foreign service officers complained in a letter that Pompeo “failed to protect civil servants from political retaliation”.
:: In a call with Zelensky, Trump called Yovanovitch “bad news” and said “she’s going to go through some things”.
:: Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, demonstrated contempt for the diplomats testifying before the impeachment inquiry as “a group of mostly career bureaucrats who are saying: ‘You know what? I don’t like President Trump’s politics so I’m going to participate in this witch hunt that they’re undertaking on the Hill'”.
A letter from more than 400 retirees of the US Agency for International Development said “we are angered at the treatment of dedicated, experienced, and wise public servants like Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch” and was critical of the administration’s treatment of foreign service officers.
Rubin refused to comment on these specific incidents.
He did ask “the State Department leadership to do everything it can to avoid dragging our members, our career colleagues into the political battles”.
© 2019, The Washington Post
Source: Read Full Article